TEMPLE, with Simon Russell Beale, Begins at Donmar Warehouse Tonight

Howard Davies will direct Steve Waters' new play TEMPLE, a fictionalised account of the events that took place during the 2011 Occupy demonstration outside St Paul's Cathedral. Simon Russell Beale will return to the Donmar stage to play the Dean having previously starred in The Philanthropist, Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya (for which he won the 2003 Olivier Award for Best Actor). The show starts tonight, May 21, with an official opening slated for May 27. TEMPLE runs through July 25, 2015.

The full cast of TEMPLE is Anna Calder-Marshall, Paul Higgins, Rebecca Humphries, Shereen Martin, Simon Russell Beale and Malcolm Sinclair.

On 15 October 2011, Occupy London makes camp outside St Paul's Cathedral. On 21 October, a building that remained open through the Blitz, terrorist threats and floods closes its doors. On 28 October, the City of London initiates legal action to begin removing Occupy London from outside the Cathedral. Steve Waters' new play is a fictional account of these events, set in the heart of a very British crisis - a crisis of conscience, a crisis of authority and a crisis of faith.

Anna Calder-Marshall (The Virger) previously worked with the Donmar having played Lola in Salt, Root and Roe (Trafalgar Studios). Most recently, Anna starred in The Herd at the Bush Theatre, and Open Court: Death Tax for the Royal Court. Other recent Royal Court projects include In the Republic of Happiness, Objections to Sex and Violence and Uncle Vanya. For the National Theatre she appeared in The Secret Rapture and The Devil is an Ass. Anna has starred in multiple Shakespearean works such as Measure for Measure (Birmingham Rep), Troilus and Cressida (Theatre Royal, Bath), and for television King Lear with Laurence Olivier, Titus Andronicus and The Winter's Tale. Other theatre credits include Pastoral (Soho), Caesar and Cleopatra and The Lady's Not for Burning (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Philistines and Too Good to be True (RSC), Antigone (The Old Vic) and Love (Lyric Hammersmith). Anna won an Emmy Award for the television series Male of the Species. Other television work includes New Tricks, Poirot, Holby Blue, Dalziel and Pascoe, Midsomer Murders, Lovejoy, Heartbeat, Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Morse. Film includes Anna Karenina, Wuthering Heights and Saint-Ex.

Paul Higgins (The Canon Chancellor) returns to the Donmar having previously appeared in Luise Miller and The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman he Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union. Paul recently starred in Hope at the Royal Court. His previous work with Temple director Howard Davies includes Children of the Sun, The White Guard and Paul at the National Theatre, and Conversations after a Burial at the Almeida. Paul's other theatre credits include Caledonia and Black Watch (National Theatre of Scotland), Measure for Measure (RSC), Night Songs (Royal Court), Buried Alive and The Maidenstone (Hampstead Theatre) and An Enemy of the People (National Theatre). Television includes Utopia, Case Histories, Line of Duty, Vera, Hope Springs, Silent Witness and The Thick of It. Film credits include In the Loop, Beautiful Creatures, Complicity and Bedrooms and Hallways.

Rebecca Humphries (The PA) makes her Donmar debut in Temple. Rebecca's theatre credits include Pomona (Orange Tree), Open Court: Primetime (Royal Court), The Kitchen (National Theatre), I am a Camera (Southwark Playhouse) and 24 Hour Plays (Old Vic New Voices). For television Rebecca has appeared in Cockroaches, Big Bad World, Sean Walsh World, Come Fly with Me and Cardinal Burns.

Shereen Martin (The City Lawyer) makes her Donmar debut in Temple. Most recently Shereen could be seen in Fireworks at the Royal Court. Other recent stage appearances include Tonight at 8.30 (Engish Touring Company), Ciphers (Out of Joint), The Only True History of Lizzie Finn (Southwark Playhouse), Model for Mankind (Cock Tavern Theatre), The Bomb (Tricycle Theatre), The Black Album, The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other (National Theatre), Measure for Measure, Richard III and Titus Andronicus (RSC). She also starred as Juliet in Josie Rourke's production of Romeo and Juliet at the Playhouse Theatre. Shereen's television work includes Lewis, Britz, Doctors and Eastenders.

Simon Russell Beale (Dean of St Paul's) returns to the Donmar following performances in The Philanthropist (Evening Standard Award for Best Actor), Twelfth Night and Uncle Vanya (Olivier Award for Best Actor). His extensive list of theatre credits for the National Theatre includes King Lear, Timon of Athens, Collaborators, London Assurance, Major Barbara, Much Ado About Nothing, The Life of Galileo, The Alchemist, Jumpers (also West End and New York), Humble Boy (also West End), Hamlet, Battle Royal, Candide, Summerfolk, Money, Othello, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Volpone. Simon's credits for the RSC include The Tempest, King Lear, Ghosts, the title roles in Richard III and Edward II, The Seagull, Troilus and Cressida, The Man of Mode and Restoration. Other theatre credits include The Hothouse (Trafalgar Studios), Privates on Parade and Death Trap (Noel Coward Theatre). Simon's acting career also spans television and film, appearing in titles including Penny Dreadful, My Week with Marilyn, The Deep Blue Sea, The Gathering, Alice in Wonderland, An Ideal Husband, The Hollow Crown: Henry IV parts 1 & 2 (BAFTA Television Award for Best Supporting Actor), American Experience and Dunkirk.

Malcolm Sinclair (Bishop of London) returns to the Donmar having previously appeared in Ivanov (Wyndham's) and Privates on Parade. Other stage credits include Quartermaine's Terms (Wyndham's), The Doctor's Dilemma, The King James Bible Readings, The Habit of Art, the Power of Yes, Luther (National Theatre), History Boys (National Theatre and Broadway), 66 Books (Bush Theatre), Rattigan's Nijinksy (Chichester Festival Theatre), Rosmersholm (Almeida), Dealer's Choice (Menier Chocolate Factory and Trafalgar Studios) and Richard III (RSC). Malcolm's television credits include Tubby and Enid, Worricker, Silk (series 2 and 3), Henry V, Parade's End, Material Girl, Pie in the Sky and Anna Karenina. Film credits include The Man Who Knew Infinity, Survivor, A Belfast Story, The Young Victoria, Casino Royale and V for Vendetta.

Steve Waters (Writer) returns to the Donmar following his play World Music which was staged in 2004. Other stage credits include Europa (Birmingham Rep), Why Can't We Live Together? (Menagerie Theatre Company/Theatre 503), Ignorance/Jahiliyyah, The Unthinkable, English Journeys and After the Gods (Hampstead), Capernaum in Sixty-Six Books, Little Platoons and The Contingency Plan (Bush) and Fast Labour (Hampstead/West Yorkshire Playhouse). For radio, Steve has written Bretton Woods and The Contingency Plan for BBC Radio 3 and From Fact to Fiction, The Air Gap, Little Platoons and The Moderniser for BBC Radio 4. Steve is the author of The Secret Life of Plays and is currently working on In a Vulnerable Place funded by the Arts Council.

Howard Davies (Director) established and ran the Warehouse Theatre for the RSC (which later became the Donmar Warehouse) where he directed and produced 26 new plays in 4 years, including The General From America, Penny for a Song, Les Liaisons Dangereuses (RSC and NY transfer - Tony Award nomination and Drama Desk Award for Best Director), Macbeth and Piaf. Previously Associate Director at the Almeida Theatre and RSC, Howard is currently an Associate Director of the National Theatre where he has directed The Silver Tassie, Children of the Sun, Juno and the Paycock, The Cherry Orchard, The White Guard (Olivier Award for Best Director), Philistines, The Life of Galileo and The House of Bernarda Alba. Other theatre credits include The Iceman Cometh (Almeida and NY transfer - Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Director; Tony Award nomination), Drawing the Line (Hampstead), The Herd (Bush), The House of Special Purpose (Chichester Festival Theatre), The Breath of Life (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Private Lives (Albery Theatre and NY transfer - Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award nominations for Best Director), Period of Adjustment, Conversations after a Burial and The Play About the Baby (Almeida). Film and television credits also include The Secret Rapture, Blue/Orange, Armadillo, Copenhagen and Tales from Hollywood.

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